Thursday, May 21, 2009

To My Lawyer, Saxonberg

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was/is one of my top ten all-time favorite kids books. E. L. Konigsburg's 1967 novel skillfully indulges the urge to run away and never come back, while omitting all possible consequences of committing such an act (see: kidnappers, pedophiles, a subsequent extended stay in military school, etc.)

I reread the novel for a literature class in college and was amazed by how well it stood the test of time; unlike other children's books I had loved as a kid but considered relentlessly boring when I reread them as an adult (see: The Secret Garden, Island of the Blue Dolphins, etc.)

Basically, what I'm getting at is this: I'm nearly 26 and I still want to spend the night inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.